Parvesh Cheena
American actor
Parvesh Cheena
Born Parvesh Singh Cheena
Occupation Actor Years active 2002–present
Parvesh Singh Cheena is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gupta in the TV series Outsourced and as Sunil Odhav on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend . He also voices Bodhi in T.O.T.S. and Blades in Transformers: Rescue Bots .
Early life
Cheena was born in Elk Grove Village, Illinois and is of Indian descent. He grew up in Naperville , Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and went to Waubonsie Valley High School .[ 1] He studied musical theatre at the Chicago College of Performing Arts .[ 2]
Career
In 2002, he scored his first role in a feature film, Barbershop , playing the character Samir.[ 3] He would play Samir again in the 2004 sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business .[ 4]
In 2007, he would play characters in the films Because I Said So and Universal Remote .[ 5] The next year, he acted in The Other End of the Line and The Ode .[ 5] In 2009, he played Zerban in the film House Broken .[ 5] He would play Abhay in the 2014 film Hello I Must Be Going .[ 6] In 2015, he would play Eric in Everything Before Us .[ 5]
He played Franklin in the 2016 film, Time Toys .[ 7] In 2017, he would play Rohan in the film Literally, Right Before Aaron .[ 5] He played a pet shop owner named Mr. Richland in the 2019 film Lady and the Tramp .[ 8]
In 2020, he would play the character Jimit Uncle in the film Definition Please .[ 9] He would play an electronics store manager in 2021, in the film Music .[ 5]
In 2022, he voiced a character in The Bob's Burgers Movie .[ 5] The next year, he played Garrett in the film Sometimes I Think About Dying .[ 10] [ 11]
Personal life
Cheena is gay. He told Michael Jensen of AfterElton in September 2010 that he came out in college, told his family at age 21, and was in a relationship with a script coordinator at the time.[ 12] In August 2021, he criticized representation of gay characters in media, telling Insider that "White people were allowed to be gay, in a sense, or be queer as an identifier. People see our color and ethnicity first before our sexuality."[ 13]
He is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America .[ 14]
He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.[ 15]
Filmography
Film
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2004
ER
Dr. Agbo
Episode: "Twas the Night"
2006
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
Mr. Babalabaloo
Episode: "Boston Holiday"
2006
The West Wing
Barista
Episode: "The Last Hurrah"
2006–2007
Help Me Help You
Parvesh
5 Episodes
2008
Brothers & Sisters
Jordan
2 Episodes
2007–2008
'Til Death
Ken, Leo
3 Episodes
2009
My Name Is Earl
Savage Indian in Jungle
Episode: "My Name is Alias"
2010
Sons of Tucson
Stewart
Episode: "Father's Day"
2010
Criminal Minds
Father
Episode: "A Rite of Passage"
2010–2011
Outsourced
Gupta
22 episodes
2011
The Fresh Beat Band
Genie
Episode: "Bollywood Beats – Jai Ho"
2011–2016
Transformers: Rescue Bots
Blades
Voice, main role
2012
Squad 85
Alan Rickman
Episode: "It's Not the Work, It's the Stares"
2013
Arrested Development
Kabir
Episode: "Indian Takers"
2013–2014
Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja
Pradeep
Voice, 4 episodes
2013
Sean Saves the World
Jerry
7 episodes
2014
A to Z
Dinesh
13 episodes
2015–2018
The Goldbergs
Andy Cesunda
3 episodes
2016–2019
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Sunil Odhav
8 episodes
2017
The Odd Couple
Neil Armstrong
Episode: "Conscious Odd Coupling"
2017
Fresh Off The Boat
Mr. O'Connor
Episode: "Pie vs. Cake"
2018
The Big Bang Theory
Marcus
Episode: "The Tenant Disassociation"
2018
Alone Together
Neel
Episode: "Pootie"
2018–2022
Craig of the Creek
Raj
Voice, 10 episodes
2018
The Guest Book
Sabu
2 episodes
2019
Mr. Mom
Jerry
Episode: "Pilot"
2019
All Rise
Sai Dalal
2 episodes
2019–2022
T.O.T.S.
Bodhi
Voice, recurring role
2019–2020
The Rocketeer
Deany
Voice, recurring role
2020
Code-Switched
Parvesh
Episode: "Soft Brown Boys"
2020–2022
Mira, Royal Detective
Manish
Voice, 13 episodes
2020–2022
The Owl House
Tibbles
Voice, recurring role
2020
Connecting
Pradeep
8 episodes
2021
Mythic Quest
Zach
2 episodes
2021
Centaurworld
Zulius
Voice, main role
2021–2022
Central Park
Taylor
Voice, 2 episodes
2022
Raven's Home
Conductor
Episode: "A Streetcar Named Conspire"
2022–2023
Shining Vale
Laird
7 episodes
2022
The Resort
Ted
2 episodes
2022
The Rookie: Feds
Ross
Episode: "Face Off"
2022–2023
Oddballs
Principal Loudspeaker
Voice, Episode: "Breaking and Entering"
2023
The Legend of Vox Machina
Waylon Amaredda
Voice, Episode: "The Trials of Vasselheim"
2023
History of the World, Part II
Publisher
Episode: "I"
2023
The Mandalorian
Nevarro Copper Droid
Voice, 3 episodes
2023
Frasier
Dev Sharma
2 episodes
2023
That Girl Lay Lay
Mr. Kimes
Episode: "How Zelda Got Her Groove Back Back"
2024
The Conners
Trivia Game Host
Episode: "When Sisters Collide and The Return of the Grifters"
References
^ Cheena, Parvesh [@Parvesh] (October 25, 2010). "Wow! My high school Alma Mater, WAUBONSIE VALLEY HIGH school, has the top show choir in the nation! Check Sound Check out" (Tweet ). Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2023 – via Twitter .
^ Scheetz, Cameron (February 27, 2023). "Parvesh Cheena on sexy comics, being "queer as can be," and his brilliant drag name" . Queerty . Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Venkataramanan, Meena (April 8, 2023). "South Asian film is on the rise in America" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Cheena, Parvesh (October 4, 2010). "Interview: Parvesh Cheena is "Outsourced" and Out" (Interview). Interviewed by Alexander Stevenson. LogoTV . Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ a b c d e f g "Parvesh Cheena Movies" . Moviefone.com . Retrieved March 27, 2024 .
^ "Cast in Order of Appearance" . Corporate Series . Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ "Time Toys" . Laemmle Theaters . Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Aguilar, Matthew (August 24, 2019). "Fans Can't Get Enough of the Lady and the Tramp Stars" . ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Valdivia, Paul (August 26, 2020). "The 'Definition Please' Trailer Looks Like It'll Break My Heart And Then Make It Whole Again" . BuzzFeed . Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Kroll, Justin (April 19, 2023). "Daisy Ridley's Sundance Pic 'Sometimes I Think About Dying' Lands At Oscilloscope" . Deadline . Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Jones, Tamera (February 2, 2023). "Daisy Ridley & the Cast and Director of 'Sometimes I Think About Dying' on How Humanity Impacted the Film's Story--Sundance" . Collider . Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ Cheena, Parvesh (October 4, 2010). "Interview: Parvesh Cheena is "Outsourced" and Out" . AfterElton (Interview). Interviewed by Michael Jensen. LogoTV . Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2023 .
^ White, Abbey; Chik, Kalai (August 31, 2021). "LGBTQ characters of color are making animation history — but creatives of color can't escape the industry's discriminatory past" . Insider . Archived from the original on August 31, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021 .
^ @Parvesh (November 28, 2020). "and yep. I guess this was a duh already but I'm all on board with the @DemSocialists. Already paid up and joined. I am older. I don't have the All IN OR NOTHING Mentality I did in my 20s. I needed @realDonaldTrump to lose and he has. Now let's work @DSA_LosAngeles @DSALongBeach 🌹" (Tweet ). Archived from the original on June 21, 2021 – via Twitter .
^ "Outsourced: Gupta played by Parvesh Cheena" . NBC Universal . Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010 .
External links
International National Artists People